Here are some language samples of neurotypical children.
Here is an example that a student has already turned in. She did a great job with the analysis. I have added some remarks in blue but these are NOT expected from you but I thought that they were good illustrations of a normal 3 year old speech.
Language Sample
Initials or pseudonym for child: J.H.
Age of child: 3.1 years
Diagnosis ( if applicable): None
Recorder: Mother
Environment (if multiple please record above each new setting or activity): Conversation took place in family room of child’s house about 10 minutes after he woke up in the morning. We were sitting on the couch, having coffee and orange juice.
Mother: Can you tell me about the YMCA? J.H.: Sure. (He turns to look at mother, demonstrating joint attention) (1) J.H.: The Y looks like a (turns to look over her right shoulder as if picturing it in his mind) like a daycare with a new, small playground there with a… with a water park. (19)note the child is referencing something he does not have a label for with something that he does. He is making an association or a connection. Notice the repetition of “like a,” “like a” this whole word repetition is very common at this age. Mother: A water park? What does the water park look like? (He turns to look at my face as I spoke.)He might be responding to the change in the reflection of the mother’s intonation pattern and pitch and looking for more information. J.H.: The water park looks like amusement park. (7) (absence of indefinite article “an”)Here is another association. Mother: Like an amusement park? J.H.: Yes. (1) Mother: What does it have there? J.H.: It has a…a… a roller coaster. (5) (Looks off as he speaks) In this exchange the child may be responding to a different question than the mother was asking. It would appear as if the mother is asking “What does the daycare have in it?” . The child appears to be responding to the question “What does an amusement park have in it?” Mother: Really? J.H.: And a carousel…and a…and a…and…and…a…and a…and…a…a teacup. (4) (He was using prior knowledge of Disney World trip to embellish description.) He appears to be still answering the question “ What does an amusement park have in it?” Note there is more examples of normal dsyfluency here. Mother: What about the day care? What kinds of toys do they have there? (He looks at me).Mother does the communication repair by rewording the question to be more specific. This is a great example of what we need to do to assist in comprehension skills. If we don’t get the answer that we are expecting the first thing we should do is to reword the question to insure that it is not a misunderstanding of the question. J.H.: They have…have toy story toys. (6) (I think he repeats words to give himself time to formulate the rest of sentence.) Mother: Toy story toys? What else? That sounds like a lot of fun. J.H.: Do you want to play with my buildings? (He looks over at his blocks). (8) Mother: Okay, but tell me; do they have a bounce at this new Y? J.H.: Sure. And they have little people who go in the bounce. (1) (10) Mother: Are you allowed to grab people in the bounce? J.H.: Sure. (1) Mother: You are? J.H.: Sure. (1) Mother: Do you want to take me there today after school? J.H.: (Takes a drink from cup) Yes. I’ll take you there. (1) (4) Mother: Oh, good. You can show me around. Now, are you really allowed to grab people in the bounce or are you supposed to just jump by yourself? J.H.: Jump by myself. (3) Look at this great use of pronouns. He did not repeat the yourself but changed it to myself. Mother: That’s right because people can get hurt, right? J.H.: (He doesn’t answer. He walks to his blocks and starts to play. I think he finally gave up on the conversation to play with the blocks because he realized it was turning into a behavior lectureJ) --------------- 72 words or utterances 14 sentences 5 MLU (Mean Length of Utterance) This sample indicates that J.H has mastered many communication skills. He was able to demonstrate joint attention. He was able to look at me and actively share attention with me. He also demonstrated theory of mind when he let me talk about what I wanted to talk about, when what he really wanted to do was play with his blocks. I also noticed his eye direction when I asked him to describe the YMCA. He was looking off, over my shoulder as if seeing the YMCA in his mind so that he would be able to describe it. I could tell that he was processing the information in the conversation. He also exhibited good conversational skills by using turn taking. He was able to grasp the main idea of the conversation without getting lost in too many details. J.H. was also able to explain information to me to effectively communicate. If the average MLU for a child is typically equal to their age, my 3-year old is a great communicator!
Here is an example that a student has already turned in. She did a great job with the analysis. I have added some remarks in blue but these are NOT expected from you but I thought that they were good illustrations of a normal 3 year old speech.
Language SampleInitials or pseudonym for child: J.H.
Age of child: 3.1 years
Diagnosis ( if applicable): None
Recorder: Mother
Environment (if multiple please record above each new setting or activity): Conversation took place in family room of child’s house about 10 minutes after he woke up in the morning. We were sitting on the couch, having coffee and orange juice.
Mother: Can you tell me about the YMCA?
J.H.: Sure. (He turns to look at mother, demonstrating joint attention) (1)
J.H.: The Y looks like a (turns to look over her right shoulder as if picturing it in his mind) like a daycare with a new, small playground there with a… with a water park. (19) note the child is referencing something he does not have a label for with something that he does. He is making an association or a connection. Notice the repetition of “like a,” “like a” this whole word repetition is very common at this age.
Mother: A water park? What does the water park look like? (He turns to look at my face as I spoke.) He might be responding to the change in the reflection of the mother’s intonation pattern and pitch and looking for more information.
J.H.: The water park looks like amusement park. (7) (absence of indefinite article “an”) Here is another association.
Mother: Like an amusement park?
J.H.: Yes. (1)
Mother: What does it have there?
J.H.: It has a…a… a roller coaster. (5) (Looks off as he speaks) In this exchange the child may be responding to a different question than the mother was asking. It would appear as if the mother is asking “What does the daycare have in it?” . The child appears to be responding to the question “What does an amusement park have in it?”
Mother: Really?
J.H.: And a carousel…and a…and a…and…and…a…and a…and…a…a teacup. (4) (He was using prior knowledge of Disney World trip to embellish description.) He appears to be still answering the question “ What does an amusement park have in it?” Note there is more examples of normal dsyfluency here.
Mother: What about the day care? What kinds of toys do they have there? (He looks at me).Mother does the communication repair by rewording the question to be more specific. This is a great example of what we need to do to assist in comprehension skills. If we don’t get the answer that we are expecting the first thing we should do is to reword the question to insure that it is not a misunderstanding of the question.
J.H.: They have…have toy story toys. (6) (I think he repeats words to give himself time to formulate the rest of sentence.)
Mother: Toy story toys? What else? That sounds like a lot of fun.
J.H.: Do you want to play with my buildings? (He looks over at his blocks). (8)
Mother: Okay, but tell me; do they have a bounce at this new Y?
J.H.: Sure. And they have little people who go in the bounce. (1) (10)
Mother: Are you allowed to grab people in the bounce?
J.H.: Sure. (1)
Mother: You are?
J.H.: Sure. (1)
Mother: Do you want to take me there today after school?
J.H.: (Takes a drink from cup) Yes. I’ll take you there. (1) (4)
Mother: Oh, good. You can show me around. Now, are you really allowed to grab people in the bounce or are you supposed to just jump by yourself?
J.H.: Jump by myself. (3) Look at this great use of pronouns. He did not repeat the yourself but changed it to myself.
Mother: That’s right because people can get hurt, right?
J.H.: (He doesn’t answer. He walks to his blocks and starts to play. I think he finally gave up on the conversation to play with the blocks because he realized it was turning into a behavior lectureJ)
---------------
72 words or utterances
14 sentences
5 MLU (Mean Length of Utterance)
This sample indicates that J.H has mastered many communication skills. He was able to demonstrate joint attention. He was able to look at me and actively share attention with me. He also demonstrated theory of mind when he let me talk about what I wanted to talk about, when what he really wanted to do was play with his blocks. I also noticed his eye direction when I asked him to describe the YMCA. He was looking off, over my shoulder as if seeing the YMCA in his mind so that he would be able to describe it. I could tell that he was processing the information in the conversation. He also exhibited good conversational skills by using turn taking. He was able to grasp the main idea of the conversation without getting lost in too many details. J.H. was also able to explain information to me to effectively communicate. If the average MLU for a child is typically equal to their age, my 3-year old is a great communicator!